In Anglo-Saxon England the best man would be at the grooms side to provide protection form anyone trying to interfere with the wedding.

This leads to the other tradition of the woman standing to the left of the man, so the presumed right handed groom and best man could keep their hand on their sword, just in case!
The use of having a few groomsmen might just come from the same origin as the bridesmaids. Older cultures believed that evil spirits would try to come to the wedding and try to foil it. The bridesmaids and presumably the groomsmen were there to help confuse these evil spirits from figuring out who the bride and groom were! When the attendants where all dressed similarly, this was supposed to confuse the evil spirits!

The traditions of the best man originated from the Germanic Goths. Historically, it was customary for a man to marry a woman who lived in his town or village. If there were not enough women in the village, the groom would then go to a nearby village and kidnap a woman to be his wife. The groom would ask a close friend (the best man) to assist him in carrying out this task.

The best man would also stand guard at the wedding to ensure the bride’s family would not try to capture her to take her back as well as prevent any other man from capturing her to be their wife.

Another story goes that the groom would choose his closest friend to be his best man. Should the groom die or not be able to care for his wife, it would then be the best man’s responsibility to take the place of the groom. The groom would therefore naturally choose someone close to him, who he can trust that his wife will be cared for if he should die.
Source(s):
http://www.globalrapidinfo.com/article_a.php?cat=LcIXAypJHyHe&cid=A-200...

http://www.helium.com/items/366000-the-history-behind-including-the-groomsm...

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